Wrong way crash kills woman on I-17

Photo courtesy Mayer Fire Dept. <br /><br /><!-- 1upcrlf2 -->A woman lost her life on Interstate 17 south of Cordes Junction when an SUV driven by an allegedly impaired driver, traveling the wrong way in the northbound lanes, crashed into this Kia SUV. The woman’s husband received non-life threatening injuries in the wreck.

A wrong way, allegedly drunk driver collided head-on this past Thursday night with a couple on their way to see a family member graduate from Northern Arizona University, killing a woman driver and injuring her husband.

Mayer Fire responded to the collision shortly after 10 p.m. at mile marker 258. Fire Chief Glenn Brown said the adult male passenger in the couple's car told emergency workers about their destination, and Cordes Junction DPS Sgt. Tim Hawes said the man later told an officer it was also the couple's first wedding anniversary. The two, in their 50s, are from Camp Verde or Washington, Hawes said. He said officers were uncertain of their residence at the time of the crash.

The crash also injured the wrong way driver, an adult male, also in his 50s, from Black Canyon City, Hawes said. The man was driving a silver SUV.

Hawes said preliminary investigation showed that alcohol was involved in the crash. Emergency personnel flew the man to John C. Lincoln North Mountain Trauma Center in Phoenix with non-life threatening injuries.

Hawes said emergency workers pronounced the woman driver of the northbound vehicle, a white Kia SUV, dead at the scene. Mayer Fire personnel took her husband to YRMC East in Prescott Valley with non-life threatening injuries.

Mayer Fire Chief Glenn Brown said fire officials called in off-duty staffing for two engines to assist at the crash and respond to other calls in the district. Along with DPS, Yavapai County Sheriff's deputies and Arizona Dept. of Transportation personnel also responded to the collision.